I went to bed last night mid anxiety attack. I received a rejection email yesterday in the early evening on this new, very personal picture book manuscript, and there was some feedback that I struggled to understand. It wasn’t until the middle of the night that I actually made sense of her words. Then I felt better. But man, that expeditious, very personalized rejection brought on a whole wave of ‘What the hell am I even doing?'”
I only began querying this new piece Monday evening. I’ve been bored waiting to hear back on the Heron story and it was time to move on. However, it seems sending out this new round of queries loosened up the log jam, because in the past 12 hours, I’ve also received two rejection emails for my Heron story! Hooray!
I’ve been telling myself that if the Heron doesn’t land me an agent, that’s okay, because I’ll just get my future agent to love it once they know and appreciate my other manuscripts. Well, if my other work can’t convince an agent that I’m worth their passion and their effort, then I’ll be fresh out of hope! I recognize these are just preliminary feelings; I’ve only received one rejection so far on this new story.
Yet, I fear I’m sensing a dark path ahead. Twisty and rife with disappointment. Again.
Good news: I’ve got three other pieces that I’m working on and weighing where they fit in in this crazy world. One is either a Board Book or a Picture Book. One is definitely a Picture Book, unless I expand it into a lower Middle Grade piece. And the final is the hardest for me to peg down. It is a non-rhyming poem and it is definitely Upper Middle Grade or YA content. How do I sell that? I have no idea, but it HAD to be written! So I’ve been researching agents who accept and represent poetry and I’ve also got lists running for each of the other mentioned projects. I’ve been busy!
In other good news, it’s been raining quite a bit and our pond is very happy! The ducks and geese are going nuts! The Heron literally just now did a major fly-by and totally caught my attention as I’m writing this blog entry. Exciting! I also had a pretty happy birthday weekend, see photo of me riding the Ferris Wheel in the Wheeler District. Such a wonderful view of our city! And, I’m excited because my daughter’s Fall Break begins tomorrow and I’m looking forward to sleeping in some and just having truly leisurely mornings. I’m also really glad that Fall finally feels like it’s here!
My Pilgrimage to Publication and Beyond 